KILLINAN END - Scope for fine-tuning the split season

One of the standard replies to media pundits’ reservations about the early finish to the All-Ireland championships was that these were vested interests. They were looking for extra opportunities to eke out a payday and elongate an already lucrative and handy number. This is always a difficult argument to assess as it relates to motivation, and it is not easy to establish what motivates any individual person. The worst part of it is that it attempts to obscure any potential objection which might be genuinely based on a concern for the championships and their standing.

Taking at face value the comments by Larry McCarthy, GAA President, at the All-Ireland banquet, the inter-county scene now appears to be an afterthought. Presumably, one does not make it to the office of GAA President, climbing the slippery pole of the democratic process, without being quite deft at working out what to say and when to say it for maximum effect.

But does he really see the club game as paramount? Certainly, in the context of sheer numbers there is no doubt that the club game has and always will have primacy. There is no argument is this respect – club players overwhelming outnumber county players. County players are but a tiny subset of the overall playing cohort. The club is the conduit through which all else flows.

However, the same can be said of rugby where only a tiny percentage play – to use an old-fashioned phrase – representative rugby. The huge majority play for their club. The same goes for soccer across the world. But the key point with these sports is that it is the higher levels of the game which generate the revenue, the promotion, and the broader support for the sports. The GAA presumably is no different in that the exploits of inter-county players and teams fuel the greater interest in the sports.

As things stand, as has been pointed out by many, inter-county GAA teams will now go from May/June/July until January/February without any visible activity. At the other end the National League have been squeezed because of the early start to the round-robin which in turn is affected by the earlier All-Ireland finals. The split-season is raising issues for the inter-county game which are perfectly reasonable to raise and discuss. Does the promotional value of the All-Ireland finals matter at all? Does this suffer by being held in July at the peak of the holiday period?

Leaving aside the question of promotion of the games and the ‘shop window’ aspect, to what extent is this making a difference to clubs? A key point in all of this is surely the reality that the All-Ireland semi-finals and finals affect very few counties. In 2016 (to take a random year), between football and hurling a total of eight counties remained in the championship after the start of August. Four of them played just one match after that. It is not clear at all that a split-season necessitates an All-Ireland final being played in July. Consider that one of those counties from 2016, Mayo, has not had a ball kicked in its 2022 football championship yet.

Galway hurlers exited the inter-county championship on 3rd July and in mid-August have just one round of the local Senior championship over. Derry gives us a stark view on the new reality. In 2021 they exited the championship in their opening game against Donegal which was on 11th July. This year they played an All-Ireland semi-final on 9th July. And bear in mind that last year was effectively a split season too. The 2021 Derry County final when Glen beat Slaughtneil was played on 13th November. Is this year’s County final likely to be different? If not, what difference did the split make?

Of course, it can be argued that having a County final on that date is perfectly fine and is a normal part of a system where county teams have one half of the year and club players the other half. However, it is a widespread reality that club teams are still slogging from early in the year and are simply playing in different competitions. The split season concept seems to have guaranteed that the club championship won’t start until the inter-county season is over but it does not guarantee that there is not a significant call on club players for most of the year.

One notable exception, hurling-wise at least, is Wexford whose County final was played last Sunday. Ferns St Aidan’s won a first ever Senior title beating St Martin’s – the club of George O’Connor. It was Ferns’ eighth match in eight weeks which seems a big ask. Even one of the Wexford quarter-finals was decided on penalties such was their haste to get the competition over and done. Now, Ferns will wait for three months until 13th November to play the Carlow champions in the Leinster championship which is as crazy as anything that has happened over the years. Whether the new arrangements stick or not there’s still scope for some fine-tuning.